State of the arts: Reno jazz

Written by Michael Martinez

The Sierra and the Truckee Meadows were once alive with the sound of jazz, as it was once a staple music genre offered at casinos, hotels and a handful of clubs dedicated to the music.

It has since become more an occasional echo of its past.

Tristan Selzler has watched the market for young jazz musicians in Reno wither in the 10 years since he moved here from San Jose, Calif.

“When I got to Reno in 2002, there were two major jazz clubs,” said Selzler, 28, a multi-instrumentalist. “One was Moody’s Bistro and there was EJ’s Jazz Club downtown.”

Moody’s is no longer a jazz club and the Wild River Grille, which used to be EJ’s Jazz Cafe, no longer exclusively books jazz.

He said jazz in the casinos has been supplanted by top 40, pop music and solo acts.

“Where they used to have big band, orchestra or quintet or a quartet, they don’t have that so much anymore,” Selzler said.

He said the younger jazz musicians coming out of the University of Nevada, Reno, jazz performance program are now playing the smaller bars, like St. James Infirmary and Strega Bar, which pay very little.

And many of the musicians, young and old, must perform music from other genres to sustain themselves.
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